Creme de la Creme of 2011

by Mel

For the sixth year running, the ALI community kicks off the new year by celebrating our best posts of the last year.

So what is the Creme de la Creme list if this is your first time here? It was started as a response to the many blogging awards that are given out each winter. I expanded the idea of presenting “the best” to include a post from every blog in the ALI (adoption/loss/infertility) world*. Every blogger has a personal best that deserves recognition. As editor of the list, I create the small blurbs after the title which serve as a doorway to the post. I hope they will help you find what you are seeking to read as well as show definitively the diversity of experience and emotion within the ALI community.

Listed below are the best posts of 2011. If you have a blog that chronicles your family building experience with infertility* and you’re not on this list, please read this post and follow the instructions to send in your submission. This post is open until January 5, 2012.

In the meantime, happy reading! And leaving a comment on these older posts is not a “may I?” but a “please do.” Comments are how an author knows their words are appreciated. Comments about the Creme de la Creme in general can be left on this post.

The Creme de la Creme of 2011

Occupy Blog Street (from Stirrup Queens): A post for the 99% of bloggers who don’t make the “best of” lists each year, the author encourages writers to protest by occupying their own blog and writing a kickass post.

Backstory (from Donating Hope): The author looks at how her first marriage still continues to haunt her life to this day without her realizing it before this point. A beautiful post about the decisions we make and what the heart wants.

Once in a Lifetime (from A Half Baked Life): Weaving in the idea that every day is once in a lifetime, the author talks about bonding with her daughter and the thoughts she has as people return to the classroom now that she is not in academia for the time being. It is about holding tight to the present, to being here in the moment rather than thinking about the past or future.

Breathing (A Poem) (from Four of a Kind): With each breath a mother takes, she remembers the child she carried and lost. A beautiful poem infusing a body with oxygen and memories.

The Back and Forth of Heartbreak (from Bio Girl): A heartbreaking post about rationally knowing that the journey is over but the heart being unable to let go of the idea of still trying to build the family that exists in her dreams.

Three (from Production, Not Reproduction): A beautiful letter from mother to daughter on her child’s third birthday with a hope that while she may not remember the specifics of her life at age three, that her child will always have imprinted on her being how she went through this world so deeply loved.

Way Wanted Babies (from IF Crossroads): At a picnic held by her fertility clinic, the author finds her tribe after feeling different from other parents for so long. Spending time at an event for people parenting after infertility changes her perspective on parents.

The Death of the Fear of Dying (from My Lady of the Lantern): A painfully raw post to read; the author describes a time when her daughter was already dead, but she had not yet been told, and she was ready to give G-d her own life in order to have her child live. A moving post about the depth of love.

Balance (from The Smartness): A gorgeous post about parenting after infertility that states: “I asked ‘Why me?’ when I couldn’t get pregnant. Now I ask (again), ‘Why me?’ Why were we lucky, when it seems that so many others are overlooked?”

Hot and bothered (from Non Sequitur Chica): The reality is that none of us know what is happening in someone else’s world when we ask a question, and this post serves as a good reminder for the thoughts unsaid in the conversation.

Finding my Sight (from Not a Fertile Myrtle): The author realizes that if given the choice, she wouldn’t give up her infertility. Because even though she is still in the struggle to reach parenthood, infertility has given her a new view of the world.

Biological Clock (from Created Family): The author debates the balance between giving up her carefree twenties to the stress of infertility vs. starting family building early enough that more choices are open on her path.

Like a Broken Record (from BattleFish): 3 months after the death of her mother, the author wonders how no one can tell that her smile doesn’t extend up to her eyes. While the rest of the world moves on, she continues to internally mourn so intensely that it seems strange that people can’t sense it externally.

August (from I Lost a World): Marveling at the child who is here while mourning the child who is not; a note from mother to son about the love she feels for his sister, the anger she feels over his absence.

25 Dollars (Canadian) (from Mommy Odyssey): Feeling desperate for a modicum of control following another miscarriage, the author shells out money to an online baby psychic for information on when her children would arrive. The lessons learned for $25 bucks and an ectopic pregnancy.

What a Change a Year Makes (from Lessons from an Infertile Social Worker): A year later and her entire life different, a mother states: “Hope is a magical thing, never lost forever. It is always there, waiting to be found, waiting to be allowed back in. It’s a matter of seeing it, though it may not necessarily be in the form you expected it to be.”

And Then it Hits Me… (from A Nuttier Life): When her SIL announces her pregnancy, the author realizes that the timing is similar to the child she lost; that as they were losing their pregnancy, another family member was creating life. And this realization hits her hard.

Why I Killed Facebook (from Fertility Alphabet Soup): The author explains why she shutdown her Facebook account, and how her life hasn’t really changed at all with the exception that she doesn’t need to wade through pregnancy announcements anymore.

Destiny (from Witty Infertility): Rejecting the idea that her life is only complete after she reaches a milestone, the author embraces all that is currently good in her life right now.

The Reason (from BagMomma): A thought-provoking post about why things happen, and the purpose of the struggles in life.

Letter in Green Biro (from Nuts in May): A scathing response to a thoughtless advice column that condescendingly told a childless woman that she was the envy of mothers.

Saying Goodbye Again (from Sunnydaytodaymama): A mother says goodbye to the embryos that didn’t make it post-transfer, all the while looking at her IVF child and knowing how much he wants to be a big brother.

Definition of Family (from CD1 Again): A wonderful post by a stepmother trying to explain to her stepdaughter her place in her life, all the while trying to figure out how we define family.

Steps (from Worrier/Warrior): A beautiful post about letting go of the past and realizing that she is free to be happy, that she doesn’t need to remain mentally in the same place she was when going through infertility.

An In Between Place (from Here We Go Again): The author points out a hole in the English language, the emotional no-man’s-land between miscarriage and stillbirth, and how her loss doesn’t fit in either space.

Infertility and Deployment: An Analogy (from The Annoyed Army Wife): In order to explain what infertility is like, the author creates an analogy to the unknowns of deployment. A valuable door for people to walk through to understand her experience.

Just Relax (Lest I Forget) (from A Field of Dreams): A scathing response to the useless advice of “Just Relax” as the author recalls different locations on her infertility journey: the kitchen floor, the clinic’s office, the emergency room.

Being Appreciative (from Hapa Hopes): Maybe it’s the wait that makes the heart that much more accommodating; the author recalls dating and applies the experience to waiting for her child.

Miraculous Time (from Kmina’s Blog): A new mother explains why she isn’t in any rush to engage in sleep training, pointing out that all of us have mothers who feel about us the way she feels about her new baby.

Mothers’ Day (from Baby Smiling In Back Seat): With the most moving line of all — “At the time, I had no idea that 2010 would be the only Mothers’ Day of my life that I’d both be a mother and have a mother.” — the author walks through how she spent the holiday over the years, the longing and loss.

Mikveh Night (from The Journey to Baby G): The author talks about the turning point when going to the mikveh — a ritual bath — went from being a time of hope to a reminder of what isn’t there.

The Girl I Used To Be (from The Misadventures of Missohkay): A wish that she could go back in time and warn herself of all she would endure in the course of a year. A post about the dates that haunt her as well as ultimately holding on to hope that life will be different in the future.

A Year and A Half (from Baby Shmaybe…?): A catch-up post coming 18 months after her last post, the author tells the story of conceiving and delivering her son.

Frustration (from IF In Big Sky Country): An incredibly frustrating interaction with medical staff who take their time to convey that the author’s husband has a tumour in his kidney. The first post about the cancer that was part of their year.

Infertility Is Just Like A Fatal Disease, Only Worse. (from Becoming Parents): Explaining how infertility is fatal, killing the dreams you once had of your life, the author writes, “This disease is every bit as fatal as cancer, only with one horrible caveat — at the end, you physically remain alive and will spend the rest of your days on earth mourning the death of the life you always wanted.”

The Butterfly (from Team Baby): An incredibly moving post about a butterfly found in the backyard that serves as a reminder of her embryos that didn’t make it.

Am I Delusional? (from Diaries by Lucy): An explanation of how different IVF is this second time around, with the emotions of their first foray into treatments gone after the birth of their son.

Remember When Nancy Kerrigan Got Hit In The Knee And She Was Sobbing “Why Me?” Over And Over? Yeah. I’m Trying To Avoid That. (from Eggs In A Row): A great post using the story of Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan to put her sister’s pregnancy (and attending her shower) into perspective.

How I Look At Children (from First Time Twins): The author explains why she may come across as someone not fond of children despite how much she wants to have children, providing an excellent analogy to brownies to boot.

Right Where I Am: 12 years, 9 months (from The Road Less Travelled): Participating in a project of where she is in her grief at this very moment, the author relays the 13 years between the loss of her daughter and now. It is a bittersweet post about love, about noticing the ways we differ, and the price that was paid to have the life she has now.

Comfort Zones (from Skytimes): The Internet becomes the mental space she needs as much as the physical space to find her sense of comfort.

The Art of IVF (from Dear Infertility): Like cooking and baking, other art forms and lithography, IVF requires the doctor to both know a formula and leave it in order to accommodate all the tiny details that make a unique human being.

The Luckiest (from Monkey Soup): Redefining the term “luck,” the author explains how this is a loaded word within adoption and alternative ways to look at it.

Infertility 101 (from This Space For Rent): Doing away with infertility myths, the author focuses on the facts of infertility including how many people are affected and how relaxing doesn’t make babies.

Happy Independence Day! (from Babylicious Tales): On Independence Day, the author applies that concept of freedom to all the choices we have as infertile women on ways to get to parenthood as well as how to parent once we get there.

My Baby Has a Grandma (from Plan B(aby)): A warning: you will cry reading this post. A beautiful story about the daughter she lost, Naomi, and how in naming her after the loss, it led to a larger story of the people we know on earth and the moments perhaps that come after death.

Crazy Cat Lady (from Somewhere in the Middle): After the sting of a friend’s comment that the author has become a Crazy Cat Lady, she embraces the idea of how much her cat means to her, especially the love he gives her when she is down.

Is This What Healing Looks Like (from Once A Mother…): Jumping off the concept of what it means to heal after losing a child, the author talks about what gave her the strength to continue living. And how in living itself, she came to heal albeit with scars.

Stretch Marks (from The Lotus Flower): The stretch marks that she despised during pregnancy become a loving mark of her motherhood after the loss of her daughter. She explains that it is okay that her body will never be the same again, since she will never be the same again after this loss.

Mommy Balancing Act (from The Subfertile Frugalista): The author admits that she doesn’t balance motherhood well, pointing out all the places where she is lacking, all the while cognizant that in the place that is most important to her, she is completely present.

Father’s Day (from Chasing Rainbows): On Father’s Day, the author gives a small prayer of thanks to her son’s donor, who — while not his father in any sense of the world — still is important to her because without him, her son wouldn’t be here.

Bust a Myth (from Mommy Mahem): Busting an infertility myth, the author explains how parenting after adoption adds additional layers, and that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to family building issues.

On Luck (from Meier Madness): Since good luck has found her at other points in life, the author assumed that ease would be the case in building her family and grapples with whether or not luck will find her again.

On Wanting More (from Manapan’s Space): Even while being grateful for what she has, the author admits that having her son doesn’t erase what came before nor keep her from wanting more.

The Power of Our Love (from Dragondreamer’s Lair): A beautiful post about the quilt a community came together to make for one of their own, and the woman who spearheaded the project providing the behind the scenes story.

Contraception (from Ginger and Lime): A sobering look at how we believe we have control, and how much is actually out of our hands. A post about everything the author thought about getting pregnant, and the reality of how little they needed birth control in the end.

Dear George (from Burble): A beautiful letter from parent to child about missing him while still feeling his presence everywhere she goes.

On “Giving Up” (from Bodega Bliss): A very important post to read about what the author has learned about the concept of giving up. She writes: “It turns out I was wrong all along. This isn’t giving up. This is knowing when you’ve done all that your heart can bear.”

Journey (from Adventures of Taderbaby): A story about trying again after infertility. The author relays the story of being pregnant with their current child, and how it went from feeling hopeless to full of hope.

Tolerant of the Intolerant (from Erat Mama): A post about the ignorant things people say and protecting your future children from other people’s hate. A beautiful look at the idea of being tolerant of the intolerant.

My Brother In-Law Vince (from A Single Journey): A moving post that goes from the inappropriate thoughts she has during the church service to finally understanding why a woman at the church asks for the same prayer every week.

So, It’s *THAT* Day, Eh? (from Hobbit-ish Thoughts and Ramblings): While others ask the author if she is excited for her first Mother’s Day, she explains that this moment feels anticlimactic considering that she has already considered herself a mother even when the rest of the world didn’t.

The ART of Conception (from Sybil and Alex): A helpful post about the science behind conception, and how treatments and medication aid in the creation of a life when a woman has PCOS.

Breaking Up with Treatment (from Searching for the Missing Piece): A post about how difficult it is for her to breakup with treatments, even though the author knows that it’s the right choice for her. Using the analogy of a relationship, she tries to explain why it is so difficult to walk away.

36 Eggs – What the?!?! (from Donor Eggs Journey): A beautiful post about meeting her son’s egg donor when they return to see if they can create a sibling for him. She describes the interaction as well as how she feels seeing her son’s features on this woman’s face.

Sibling Rivalry (from Compromised Fertility): The author returns to the sibling rivalry she felt as a child when her sister mentions that she is going to try to get pregnant right after her wedding, and she has a sinking sense that this will probably go easily for her sister even though it has been difficult for her.

Secret Fears (from My Lazy Ovaries): A very honest post about the author’s secret fears about infertility; whether her past thoughts are somehow sabotaging her current efforts as well as whether she is attempting to build her family for the “right” reasons.

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh! (from Things get IF’fy): An amusing post fast-forwarding to life in the nursing home and how the author thinks she might react to people talking about their grandchildren as well as having that need to pretend to still be stimming when she’s old and grey.

Choices of Marriage (from A Life of Choice): Speaking from a place where her marriage has come from a difficult period onto much smoother ground, the author considers what worked for them.

Acrostic (from Infertile Fantasies): Taking apart the words “fail” and “win,” the author dissects the highs and lows in parenting, examining what is working and what is not, and reminding herself that it is a long journey.

Facebook Killed the Blogger Star (from Our Family Beginnings): In a goodbye post, a blogger signs off for the time being after completing her family. Loving a site enough to know when it is time to leave it.

Head in the Sand (from Detour): Dr. Google, the author explains, can be a blessing as much as it can also be a curse for the anxious, and she encourages women to speak up to their doctor if they have the symptoms for endometriosis.

Me and the Cuckoo Baby (from Grit and Patience): Using the analogy of the cuckoo bird’s behaviour, the author admits her anxieties about her donor egg baby not quite fitting; not just in size, but inside her heart, until she reassures herself with others she loves who are not biologically related.

Living With Courage (from A Second Line): After the author almost loses her life in childbirth, she explains how she came to her philosophy to live without fear.

Brave (from Still Life with Circles): An injection at the doctor’s office brings all of her daughter’s emotions to the surface in a post that explores what it means to be brave and strong; the impermanence of life.

The Gift (from MoJo Working): In the loss of her child, the author finds a reason to leave her old life behind, grab her husband’s hand, and run into their new life together; a gift that she admits comes from that loss, something her child gave her.

9 Months of Grief (from Wegen Tales): The author points out the other situations that are resolved within nine months and asks why grief can’t work in the same manner. A post about finding her strength in her religion.

Five Years Gone (from Life From Here: Musings From the Edge): Capturing the paradox that exists — her daughter would not be with her if she hadn’t lost her son — the author discusses how grief looks down the road, not realizing as she writes that she is nurturing another life.

Baby Making Roulette (from Single Infertile Female): Frustrated by the fact that the author is clearly ovulating and there’s no sex to be had in sight, she laments that she wishes there were more options for her beyond always waiting for IVF.

Remembering (from Slowmamma): An incredibly moving post about her son’s identical twin brother who died and how she carries his memory.

Footprints (from Wonderfully Ordinary): A post that will make you smile about how the carpet in her guest room has changed — at least how she vacuums it — now that she has a baby.

21 Guns (from From IF to When): An incredible post taking the song “21 Guns” and using it to explain why the author is so tired of fighting people about the disease rather than fighting the disease itself. It contains this chilling line: “Sticks and stones never hurt my bones. Words did, a little. But taking away my womanhood ruined me.”

The Silence of Suffering (from Home Grown Love): The author makes a great point that in olden times, a woman who wasn’t having children after a certain point in marriage would be understood to have a medical issue and people would behave accordingly. Whereas in the modern age, she is subjected to hurtful comments.

The Latina Factor (from The Corrocks): In addition to dealing with the common emotional elements of infertility, the author explains how the norms within her culture additionally come into play.

Thank You B. (from Nursing Infertility): A moment where the author’s husband stepped forward and supported her so fully that she knew without a doubt that all would be fine in the future.

A Day Like Any Other (from Words Fly Up): The author doesn’t need an anniversary to miss her unborn children; it happens every single day of the year. A moving post about how that love doesn’t change with the calendar.

Thanksgiving (from Not Just an Army Wife ): As a fourth holiday season rolls around, the author asks when it’s going to be their turn to give a child a first Thanksgiving or Christmas. A post about finding thankfulness.

One Year (from Love Life Project): The central question — whether the author is a mother despite not having her child alive — is answered by a slip of paper she leaves as a message to a future reader of a pregnancy loss book at a store.

Am I Being Selfish? (from Searching for our Silver Lining): Turning the idea of the selfishness of fertility treatments on its head, the author ultimately points out that parenting itself is an act of great selfishness and selflessness at the same time.

You Can’t Rush Grief (from Marriage 2.0): Grief comes in spirals; just one of the many lessons the author learned via her divorce and miscarriage, especially that grief cannot be rushed and is felt on its own timetable.

A Maternal Moment (from Just Let Go): A fairly gross moment with her dog let’s the author know that she has what it takes to become a mother.

Tough Stuff (from Under the Same Sky): A truly heartbreaking and ultimately beautiful post about how the author came to understand and find comfort in a behaviour she once couldn’t comprehend in a patient. A post about the ways in which we cope with loss.

Reflecting on 2011 (from The Cornfed Feminist): Trying to finding meaning in the time it is taking her to get pregnant, the author points out that if she had gotten pregnant when they first started doing medicated cycles, she would have never started blogging about infertility and found this community.

How We Got Here (from Write, Baby, Repeat): Pregnant after a donor egg cycle, the author busts open the myth that people finally get pregnant after they adopt once her grandfather makes this comment.

The Infertility Identity (from What IF? ): The author points out that as much as people lament how little is known about infertility, by not speaking openly about infertility, people contribute to that problem. She encourages people to speaking frankly about their struggles in the same way they would other issues.

Music Monday #28 (from Our Life Journey): Jumping off of a song by Matt Hammitt, the author states that regardless of how long her children exist — whether it be for days or many years — she wants them to know how intensely she loves them.

The Half Truth (from The Long Way Around): The author finds it easier to admit to their losses than it is to admit to their infertility, and she wonders why she can talk about one but not the other.

Identity (from Braving IVF): The author quits her job in order to accommodate IVF, but then discovers that she doesn’t really know what to do with her new-found time nor how to talk about why she is out of work.

When I Grow Up… (from On KK’s Butterfly Wings): Answering that she wanted to be a mother of a living child wouldn’t have occurred to the author in her youth when asked the question of what she wanted to be when she grew up. And she wonders if it would have made a difference to put her foot down and insist that it was what she wanted more than anything.

The Other Side (from Hope for the Best): A lovely post as her son turns two months old recounting his birth story but ends with an admittance that even though he is here, the author can still see the beauty in all the other paths out of infertility, including the choice to live childfree.

My New Reality (from A Bend in the Road): A visit to a new town and seeing a shrine in the town lays raw all of the emotions the author feels after the death of her daughter.

Shhhhhh . . . Creeping In . . . (from A Fifth Season): The author comes back to her blog to write out her visit to her daughter’s grave because other than Grief itself, no one else asks or listens to where she had been all day.

Too Much (from One Who Understands): The author’s friend thinks she understands infertility based on the movie The Backup Plan, and the author is upset when her friend comments that if she had to do an IUI, she probably wouldn’t have tried for her six children.

Feeling Left Behind (from No Kidding in NZ): A fantastic post reframing living childfree after infertility, showing the reality of the option, which is that it is a path that runs parallel and not behind other paths out of infertility. A post about no longer feeling left behind but instead walking alongside.

Comment Whore Shipwrecked on a Desert Island (from Happy – Go – Lucky): Like many who have been blogging for a long time, the author considers how life has changed for most of the people on her blogroll, and how that has also changed the amount of time people blog and comment. A post both lamenting and acknowledging this new place in the blogging.

Retrospective (from Mina’s Musings): Using your blog as a measurement for how far you’ve come; for proof that things will not always be as they are, in both the good and bad sense of that idea.

Seventeen (from Now As I Lay Me Down to Sleep…): A warning: you will most likely cry reading this post about doubting second love and then finding it to be special, and how that idea gives her hope as she mourns her son.

I Never Knew (from Life As I Know It): The birth of her third child gives the author insight into how much she didn’t know from the premature birth of her twins, and this insight translates into a sense of loss over what she didn’t get to experience the first time around.

Uhm, is this Thing Still on? (from Baby Wanted: Apply Within): A check in post that explores the idea that her life is not where she thought it would be when she first started her blog five years earlier, and how she wants to be cycling soon as it feels like time is running out.

Right Where I Am: 1 Year, 1 Month (from My Sweet Kenny): With too much on her plate in terms of loss and infertility, the author states exactly where she is with her grief, a raw venting as she processes what has happened, where she is now.

Did I Get the Call? (from Recipe for a Family): The author asks the reader to “Imagine if we had no idea how long each pregnancy would be.” A post about the wait during adoption, and how the light on the answering machine captivated her for 19 months.

How it All Began … (from Being Joyful Always): A bittersweet post, especially in light of the fact that the adoption is not taking place, about how hopeful she felt when it seemed as if everything was sailing smoothly.

One Year and Beyond (from Always Plus One): The author dreads the upcoming one year anniversary of her son’s death; not because the day will be any more painful emotionally than any other day, but because she doesn’t want to be out of that time period when she last had her son.

We’re Famous (from Two Hot Mamas): A post explaining what worked for the author and her wife in terms of feeding their child, with the emphasis being a balance of what is best for the child, best for the bio mother, and best for the non-bio mother, honouring all three factors.

Eggs (from I’m Polycystitc Inside): Thoughts stemming from a trip to the RE, the author exclaims that we were all just egg cells sitting in someone’s ovaries and the mindblowing idea that we all develop into these unique human beings.

It Must Be January 21st! (from Waiting, Wishing, Hoping): Talking about the need for a reboot as she needs every year in regards to her New Year’s resolutions, she relays the story of a friend and how she let the author down, but it’s time to move on and forgive even if she doesn’t really understand.

Why She Drinks (from Bloodsigns): An incredibly powerful post unfolding the story of why her mother drinks, which really becomes a tale about how we love, and how we sometimes need to hold the world a bit at arm’s length.

A Little History (from The Brooding Woman): The author relays the story of two of her sibling’s neonatal deaths and her mother’s two second-trimester losses, holding them up as a fact of wonder, how her parents got through it without being broken.

Why Ask For Help? (from In Due Time): A raw, heartbreaking post asking what is the point in asking for help when nothing can undo what has already been lost.

All Grown Up (from Geebaby): In the wake of numerous Facebook status updates about parenthood that sting, the author asks herself: “do I think being an ‘adult’ is a requirement to parent, or do I think being a ‘parent’ is the ticket into adulthood?”

Waiting for Winter (from Forever a Family): Another warning: you will cry reading this. A gorgeous post about saying goodbye to her son who is dying as he grows; a long, slow goodbye as — like the seasons — he goes from the autumn to the winter of his brief life. She writes, “When the call ended, I gasped and began sobbing. I wasn’t shocked. I knew this was coming, but nothing prepares you for the moment you truly realize your baby is dying.”

The First Time I Told Someone (from Roccie Road): The author finds happiness with each retelling of her donor egg story, realizing it isn’t something to hide but simply the unique way her son came into her family.

Et tu, Muppets? (from Will CarryOn): With the most perfect line summing up her experience of watching the Muppet movie: “I hadn’t expected something that made me so happy as a child (and yes, as an adult) to make me so sad for not having the children to share it with.”

I Feel Broken (from The In Between): A friend drops the news of her pregnancy into the middle of dinner, and the author needs to get through the rest of the meal, listening to pregnancy talk while she’s dying inside.

In-Vitro Fertilization and The Emotions (from Toddlers and Test Tubes): While keeping in mind that no one can truly know what another person is feeling, even if they’ve been through the exact same experience, the author reflects on a woman who came into her life and how that person gave her comfort at the moment she needed it.

The Landlord Called… Rent Is Due (from Two In The Mud): After lamenting the costs inherent in family building with infertility, the author talks about a fee that few fertile women think about — the embryo storage fee — and how to even list something like that on her budget.

Identity (from I Can’t Whistle): A gorgeous post about what she isn’t blogging about now that her child is here, even though she still has so much she needs to say.

Baby Blues (from She’s One in Amelian): A powerful post about working through that sense of denial and disbelief that comes with an infertility diagnosis.

Do You Have Children? (from Justin and Jessica): Every time the author is asked the question of whether she has children, she doesn’t know how to address it in a way that neatly packages the enormity of the answer.

A Momma Kangaroo (from Our Little Tongginator): An update detailing the author’s new status as a kangaroo after meeting her new daughter in China and holding her non-stop in her carrier. A post about transitions great and small.

Made a Fool of Myself in Public (from The Childless Mom): On a difficult day, when the author was set to solo at the church, the pastor makes an announcement about his own impending grandfatherhood, and she dives into the deep grief she feels after a negative.

Hatched (from It is What it is (or is it?)): An incredibly important post, through the eyes of an adoptee, discussing the importance of how knowing how you came into the world because that story can have a ripple effect.

T Is For… (from Adventures in Infertility-land): Bravely discussing the “T” word, the author explains how uncomfortable she feels using the word termination on her blog, even though she knows it would be helpful for people who find her posts and have gone through a similar experience of needing to terminate a pregnancy when the child will not survive outside the womb.

Isolated… but Not Truly Alone (from My Cheap Version of Therapy): A truthful post about the author’s experience being pregnant after infertility and all the difficult facets that come from having the experience be similar yet completely different from how it would have been if she had conceived on her own timetable.

A Public Service Announcement (from By the Brooke): The rarity of that 1% stillbirth statistic doesn’t really matter when it happens to you, bringing you into that small group that needs the understanding and empathy of the 99%; to make it not a shameful secret but a reality of life.

Positive Thinking and IVF (from Buck Up, Buttercup): The author points out the dark side of coaching someone that they can control their health with positive thinking and the self-blame that can come out of the message.

2 Upsetting Issues & Counting (from Love, Loss & Life): A rallying cry of support for a fellow babylost family, the Duggars, in which the author explains just how hurtful the media coverage is for other parents who have lost their child.

Support (from The Road Less Traveled): For the first time in her life, the author needs to call on the emotional support of others, and she learns that it isn’t quite so simple. That there are the people who she thought she could count on that don’t come through, and the ones that she never thought would be there and yet are.

C & B: Love & Seasons (from Little Bird ): A moving post about transitioning from the season of mourning to the season of gentleness, where her heart knows that it can love her son without ever forgetting her daughter.

Kick at the Darkness (from Sprout): A very powerful post about coming through an extreme depression, from the brink of losing her life, and stepping back into living due to a vision of her daughter who may one day come to be.

Brinley’s Month (from Brinley Love): The calendar has returned to August, the month in which her daughter died, and she and others keep finding dimes, small messages from her daughter.

A Day Just Like This (from The Broken Road): A post no parent should ever have to write: a mother and father return to the cemetery to purchase the headstone for their daughter’s grave.

Ghost Child (from Tuesday’s Hope): Three years after the death of her daughter, the author talks about that ghostly presence of someone who should be here as well as the idea that life continues on.

*I aim for inclusivity, therefore, if you think you belong on this list, you probably do. From the newly-diagnosed to the treatment vets, from those still filling out paperwork to those with completed adoptions, from those who are trying to choose a donor and those parenting DI or DE kids; those who are completely confused on what to do and those who are peacefully–or not peacefully–living child-free. Biological infertility or situational infertility, being a single parent by choice, straight or gay, young or old — this list is about difficulties while family building, pure and simple.

**sometimes an author doesn’t formally end their blog but stops writing. Other times, one blog ends and another blog begins by the same writer. Still others, a blog is placed on this list only to start posting again months later. Not included on this list are blogs that have gone password protected and continue to be written for a smaller audience. Apologies to anyone who hasn’t truly closed their blog who appears on this list. Please let me know and I’ll take it down. At the same time, if you have closed your blog this year and would like to be honoured on this list, please send me your blog name.

Thank you Mel! I love reading your intros almost as much as the actual posts on the Creme list! Looking forward to diving in! Thank you for what you wrote about my post – #5), I am always most excited to see what you say! A very happy new year to you, Josh, W & C! Thank you for being you and doing this! I hope that 2012 is wonderful for you and your loved ones! xoxo

You are a Blogger with heart, brains and pure gorgeousness all around. Thank you, thank you. I don’t know what the rest of the blogosphere is really like, but I do know that this ALI world is full of good people doing and saying and listening in a unique and real way!

Mel, you ARE the glue that binds this community together, inspires us all to be our best possible writer, and encourages us all to be welcoming to all ALI bloggers, new and old, by following each others journey and commenting along the way.

May this new year, 2012, bring fulfill you in ways that you’ve yet to dream.

Mel, I have to applaud you. Putting together a list is one thing, but reading every post and writing a lovely intro to it is quite another. You are an amazing, and very formidable woman! Happy New Year!

I cannot express how much I loved your own entry (Occupy Blog Street was my favorite post of the year) and how it ties in with Creme. The fact that you so thoughtfully and steadfastly do this for our community every year makes me so grateful to know you and to be part of this amazing group.

What a fantastic idea. Though not new to blogging, I’m newly seeking out the IF blogging community and this has been a great place for me to find some really resonant ideas and people. Thanks for putting this together!

Thanks Mel! This is my first year participating and this list is fantastic. I was wondering, I saw someone’s blog who had a link to the Creme de la Creme logo for this year. Do you have instructions on how we can do this?

Joey, submissions ended the 5th or 6th. Mel then has to go through the submissions and read them and write up blurbs, and then upload them. It will be ongoing for a while, I think – or at least it was last year!

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Operation Heads Up

Click on the links below to learn more from your fellow Iffers about each procedure, surgery and medication. Click here for additional information about the project.

Who is Mel?

Melissa, otherwise known as Mel, The Stirrup Queen, and most recently nicknamed Lollipop Goldstein, has been blogging since 2006. In addition to STIRRUP QUEENS, she also writes the daily Lost and Found (LFCA). She also writes for BlogHer. You can join her on StumbleUpon. She's known to Twitter about her wonky ovaries.